Temporary sealing means for bags



Feb. 26, 1963 R. E. ROOP 3,079,066-

TEMPORARY SEALING MEANS FOR BAGS Filed Dec. 21, 1960 L\UIIIIIIl/IIIIIl/IIII FIG-.5

ROBERT E. lZooP .United States Patent 3,079,066 TEMPORARY SEALING MEANSFOR BAGS Robert E. Roop, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Continental CanCompany, Inc., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 21, 1960, Ser. No.77,318 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-62) This invention relates in general to newand useful improvements in bag construction, and more specificallyrelates to a novel sealing means for bags. 7 In many instances, it isdesired to temporarily seal a bag in a manner which permits the readyopening and A typical example 10f such a bag a sweater, is packagedwithin the bag to prevent the enarnined, it must be removed from the bagand, if not bought, is returned to the bag and the bag' should again besealed. The present invention has as a primary object the provision ofan extremely simple temporary seal which may be readily incorporated inbags of existing construction.

, Another object of the invention is to provide a simple temporary sealfor bags which permits the opening and re'closure thereof, the sealbeing in the form of an additive member which may be applied to onlythose bags which it is desired to open and reseal.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel temporaryseal for closures of bags, the seal including the simple expedient ofproviding one or more openings in the closure member of the bag andoverlying the exterior surface of the closure member about and over theopening with a strip having a releasable adhesive coating thereon, thestrip and the adhesive coating thereof projecting through the openingand temporarily bonding with the portion of the bag underlying theopening to temporarily retain the closure in place.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel bag constructionwherein the bag is provided with a closure flap and the closure flap isprovided with at least one opening therethrough, the closure flap alsobeing provided 'on the exterior surface thereof with a strip having areleasable adhesive coating thereon, the releasable adhesive coatingserving to releasably secure the strip to the closure flap and portionsof the strip and adhesive coating projecting through openings in theclosure flap and engaging underlying portions of the bag to releasablytemporarily secure the closure flap to the bag to effect the sealing ofthe bag.

* With the above, and other objects in view that will hereinafterappear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood byreference to the following detailed description, the appended claim andthe several views illustrated in the accompanying drawing:

{{Ih the drawing:

QFIGURE l is a perspective view of a bag formed in accordance with theinvention and employing the temporary sealing means.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view similar to FIGURE 1, and shows theclosure flap of the bag in an open position with the temporary sealingmeans still carried thereby.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary exploded perspective rear view of the bag ofFIGURE 1 in its open position and with the temporary sealing stripspaced therefrom prior to the application thereof. }';FIGURE 4 is anenlarged fragmentary vertical sectional new taken along the line 4-4 ofFIGURE 1, and shows the specific details of the temporary closure.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view takenalong the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1, and shows further the details of thetemporary seal.

article from becoming soiled. When the article is being Reference is nowmade to the drawings in detail, wherein there is illustrated aconventional type of bag, generally referred to by the numeral 6. Thebag 6 includes a body portion 7 having a closed lower end 8 and anarticle receiving opening 9 at the upper end thereof. The articlereceiving opening 9 is normally closed by a closure flap 10 which isformed as a part of one of the walls of the body portion 7. During thenormal use of the bag '6, the closure flap 10 is folded to its positionof FIGURE 1 overlying the body portion 7.

The bag 6, as described above, is a conventional bag which may befor-med in any desired manner and of any material, although theillustrated bag is formed of plastic material. In accordance with theinvention, the closure flap 10 is provided with at least one opening 11therethrough, although the number of openings may vary and the openingsmay be there in number, as illustrated in the example bag. A strip 12 issecured to the outer surface of the closure flap 10in overlying relationto the openings 11. The strip 12 is provided on one side thereof with anadhesive layer 13 which may be of any tacky, non-permanent typeadhesive. It is to be understood that the tape 12 is secured to theclosure flap lit by means of the adhesive coating 13 thereof.

Due to the relatively small size of the openings 11, the adhesive layerof the strip 12 does not come into contact with either the articlepackaged within the bag 6 or the handle of the package even though theclosure flap 10 may be in the open position of FIGURE 2. On the otherhand, when the closure flap 10 is swung to its hag closing position ofFIGURE 1, pressure may be exerted on the strip 12 in the vicinity of theopenings 11, with the result that the strip 12 will have those portionsthereof overlying the openings 11 depressed into the openings 11, withthe adhesive layer 13 engaging the underlying portion of the body 7 ofthe bag, as is clearly shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. The adhesive betweenthe adhesive layer 13 and the body portion 7 is sufficient to retain theclosure flap 10 in the bag closing position. However, when it is desiredto inspect the contents of the bag 6, it is merely necessary to engageone corner of the closure flap 1!} and pull the same upwardly. Theupward pull on the closure flap 1d will be sufficient to effect therelease of the adhesive material 13 from the body portion 7 of the bag,thus permitting the closure fiap 10 to be swung from its bag closingposition of FIGURE 1 to the open position of FIGURE 2.

Although the temporary sealing means have been illustrated only inconjunction with a bag having a closure flap, the invention is notintended to be so limited. If desired, the principles of the inventioncould be used with other types of bag construction. For example, in eventhe simplest type of bag wherein the body portion terminates abruptlyinto the mouth of the bag, it would be merely necessary to provide thebody portion with openings, such as the openings .11, in one wallthereof adjacent the open mouth of the bag. The strip 12 or a similarstrip may then be secured to the one wall of the body portion of the bagin overlying relation to the openings formed therein. When the bag issqueezed together at its mouth, the adhesive material would serve totemporarily secure together the opposed portions of the body portion toeffect the desired closing of the mouth of the bag.

From the foregoing discussion of the invention, it will be obvious thatthe invention may be incorporated in any type of bag construction merelyby providing one or more openings in the closure portion of the bag andapplying a suitable strip having an adhesive layer thereon of thenonsetting or releasable type. Furthermore, because the adhesive layerof the strip is of the non-setting type, the bag may be opened andreclosed many times.

It will be apparent that novel and advantageous provision has been madefor carrying out the desired end.

However, attention is again directed to the fact that variations may bemade in the example form of the invention disclosed herein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in theappended claim.

I claim:

A-bag and closure therefor adapted by its structure for continuous andunlimited opening, closing and positive sealing, said bag having an openend defined by an upper edge, said bag including identical first andsecond w'alls in opposed relation to each other, said first and secondwalls being permanently securedtogether along'respective bottom and sideedge portions thereof, a fiap forming an integral extension of saidsecond wall and joined thereto along a fold line, said fold line beingparallel to and in alignment with said upper bag edge, said flapeoextensively overlying a limited portion of said first wall fortemporarily closing said open end, a plurality of circular-openings insaid flap in generally parallel alignment tosaid fold line so as to bedisposed immediately adjacent said first wall, a narrow elongatedstrip'of pressure sensitive adhesive tape overlying said openingsand-secured to the outer surface of said flap, the portions of said tapeoverly ing the openings being deformablethrough said openings upon theapplication of pressure thereto so as to contact and temporarily adheresaid tape portions to said first wall whereby said bag may be repeatedlyopened and reclosed with ease. 5

References Cited in thefile .of this patent UNITED SUITATESVPATENTS2,066,495 Swift Jan. s, 1937 2,394,335 Shapir o- Feb. 5, 1946 2,400,406Godoy May 14, 1945 2,72 ,031 Guthrie Dec. 6; 955 2,874,890 Evanstein p hFeb. 24, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 107,877 Great Britain July 19, 1917494,159 Great Britain Oct. 19, 1.1338

